ASPEN, Colo. (CNN/Money) -
Are Americans well enough informed? Is media consolidation a bad thing? Have journalists sold out?
These are just a handful of questions we attempted to answer Tuesday morning at a roundtable discussion on the media at Fortune's Brainstorm 2003 conference at the Aspen Institute.
It's the kind of venue where a former U.S. Secretary of State, a member of the Saudi royal family, and Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, among other things a former chairman of The Economist, show up just to listen.
The great debate
The discussion was fast, furious and even a bit bizarre. Jack Valenti, the octogenarian chief lobbyist for the film industry, arrived late and loudly announced his entrance into a conference room by shouting, "Good morning America." (It must be good to be Jack Valenti.)
As for the debate, here's a summary. Many participants decried, if not the pernicious effects of consolidation, at least the dumbing down of American media.
Rob Glaser, CEO of software maker Real Networks, blamed the shorter attention span of most Americans who just don't want to read long, and, by implication, more analytical articles.
Michael Wolff, the sharp-tongued media critic for New York magazine, thinks Americans are rejecting news itself. That's why publishers and broadcasters have resorted to entertaining rather than informing their readers and viewers.
Pat Mitchell, CEO of PBS, believes the public feels less informed, even as it is amused.
| Recently by Adam Lashinsky
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Why is this happening? The conspiracy theorists -- I'm not naming names -- believe it's because so much media is now in the hands of so few, namely Viacom (CBS, Infinity radio), Disney (ABC), News Corp. (Fox News) and GE (NBC).
Others on the (admittedly liberal) panel simply blame Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes of Fox for what they call the network's right-wing and lively, if less serious, approach. (Disclosure: I am a frequent contributor to Fox News.)
Nancy Peretsman, a peripatetic investment banker with Allen & Co., has a more logical explanation. The explosion of broadcast media and competition from the Internet means the remaining broadcasters are fighting harder than ever for ratings. Hence the imperative to entertain.
Not everyone, however, is down on the media. Ann Moore, CEO of Time Inc. (and therefore my boss's boss's boss), points to the great self-corrective power of the media.
Two examples: The recent management purge-as-punishment at the New York Times and the harsh coverage AOL-Time Warner, parent of CNN/Money, has received from its very own Fortune magazine.
And then there's Michael Kinsley, former editor of Slate, who was widely accused of selling out when he joined the Microsoft-owned online publication. As media watchers universally agree, Kinsley went on to do demanding, tough journalism at Slate, including critical coverage of Microsoft.
His assessment: "I don't see the problem, frankly. It is my impression that views are not being suppressed."
My take: Consolidation isn't to blame for dumbed-down journalism, and it isn't to be overly feared. Over time, big companies tend to do stupid things, opening the door for smaller companies to do a better job and win their customers.
In the meantime, we in the media will continue to debate our role over and over because, well...that's what we do!
Adam Lashinsky is a senior writer for Fortune magazine. Send e-mail to Adam at lashinskysbottomline@yahoo.com.
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